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AISI 316 Stainless Steel vs. AZ91A Magnesium

AISI 316 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while AZ91A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (7, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is AISI 316 stainless steel and the bottom bar is AZ91A magnesium.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 160 to 360
63
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
46
Elongation at Break, % 8.0 to 55
5.0
Fatigue Strength, MPa 210 to 430
99
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 78
18
Shear Strength, MPa 350 to 690
140
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 520 to 1180
240
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 230 to 850
160

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
360
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 590
130
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1400
600
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1380
470
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
990
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 15
73
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 16
26

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.3
10
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.6
52

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 19
12
Density, g/cm3 7.9
1.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.9
22
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 53
160
Embodied Water, L/kg 150
990

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 85 to 260
11
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 130 to 1820
280
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
69
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 41
38
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 31
49
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.1
42
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 11 to 26
14

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
8.3 to 9.7
Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.080
0
Chromium (Cr), % 16 to 18
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 62 to 72
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
88.2 to 91.2
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 2.0
0.13 to 0.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 2.0 to 3.0
0
Nickel (Ni), % 10 to 14
0 to 0.030
Nitrogen (N), % 0 to 0.1
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.045
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.75
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0.35 to 1.0